Delta Barcelona-Boston flight diverted to Porto after cabin
A Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-300 diverted to Porto, Portugal, after smoke filled the cabin, sickening eleven passengers and leading to multiple
Delta flight DL-251 from Barcelona to Boston diverted to Porto, Portugal, after smoke filled the cabin, sickening multiple people. Eleven passengers reported symptoms, with three passengers and one crew member transported to a local hospital.
Emergency medical first responders were put on standby as the Airbus A330-300, carrying 296 people, turned back over the Atlantic. The flight had departed Barcelona El Prat Airport at around 3:40 pm on September 27. It climbed to approximately 32,000 feet before the pilots performed a sudden U-turn just over two hours into the scheduled eight-and-a-half-hour journey. Portuguese officials confirmed the smoke forced the emergency landing.
Passenger and crew impact
Twelve people required oxygen during the incident. Eight passengers were treated on the tarmac at Porto’s Francisco Sá Carneiro airport. Medical responders confirmed eleven passengers were affected, with three being transported to the hospital. A hospital spokesperson stated two male passengers were admitted to the emergency department with mild respiratory symptoms from smoke inhalation; both were in stable condition.
Aircraft and operational details
The aircraft involved is an 11-year-old Airbus A330-300, registration N824NW. It diverted approximately 500 miles off the Portuguese coastline and landed safely in Porto. The cause of the smoke remains unexplained, and the aircraft remains grounded there. Other passengers were not placed on an alternative Delta flight that evening, and a Boston-bound flight from Porto scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday was canceled. Delta stated it would operate a Boston-bound flight from Barcelona at 3:15 p.m. On Monday.
Broader safety context
This incident marks the third Delta-linked cabin air incident in just over a week. All three recent fume events involved aircraft manufactured by Airbus. Airbus faces multiple lawsuits in the United States over its bleed air system. The lawsuits allege the system, which supplies fresh air to the cabin, can become contaminated with vaporized engine oil, causing smoke and strange odors. Such fume events have led to passengers and flight attendants suffering headaches and nausea.
In most cases, these events cause short-lived health effects. Campaigners, however, claim some victims suffer debilitating chronic conditions. The bleed air system is not unique to Airbus; other Boeing-made aircraft also use it. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the only commercial passenger aircraft that does not.
A previous Delta flight from Maui to Seattle also saw passengers taken to hospital after a mystery fume event. Over a month prior, a Delta flight to Fort-Lauderdale returned to Atlanta fifteen minutes after departure out of an abundance of caution. Separately, seven flight attendants on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Los Angeles were sickened by a strange odor. The aircraft involved in the Porto diversion remains grounded pending investigation into the unexplained cabin smoke source.
